Auguste and the apples

Chilli goodies

Mr Snail went away last weekend to visit Sister of Snail, to help her de-clad a shed and start to turn the remaining frame into a fruit cage*. They made good progress, which he’s sure to blog about once he’s finished this NaNoWriMo business (he’s got less than 7,000 words to go now). It was a sociable event by all accounts (I had to stay home and tend to dogs and chickens) involving family and friends. I dispatched Mr Snail with some chilli goodies for my nephew, a pair of socks for my mum and some netting for the top of the fruit cage and he returned with some old pillow cases for Hannah (Spinning a Yarn) and… drum roll, please… some more apples!

Old apples on the left, new apples on the right

Since I have filled all the half-litre preserving bottles that I own with passata, nectarines, mangoes and apples, this new delivery will have to be stored in a different way. In fact, simply keeping an eye on the apples in boxes and removing any that seem to be going bad is currently working well and means that I will have fresh apples to use well into December. This is aided by keeping them in open boxes in the limery, where there are no mice (unlike the shed) and the temperature is cool but fairly stable. Storing apples this way is lovely because it means that you can use them in any recipe… the bottled ones tend not to be any good for cakes, for example, because they are too mushy.

Even so, I think that I will freeze some of the latest crop. Fortunately, Mr Snail has loaned me his sous-chef, Auguste to help out. When living with Mr Snail in Reading, Auguste specialised in savoury dishes – being particularly good at pizza – but since his return home earlier this year, he has been turning his paw to sweet treats and now has experience of cake and waffles. I’m hoping that he gets good at peeling apples, but I’m looking at those paws with some doubt…

18 Comments

nettyg

Auguste looks like an asset to any kitchen. Your trading, swapping and gifting back and forth with family is delightful, it reminds me of myself and a few friends………they arrive with something they’ve cooked, or whatever is in glut on their fruit trees, the not quite out-of-date magazines that have already done the rounds of their village, and I send them home with fresh vegetables, seedlings and/or something stitched or maybe the latest issue of a favourite magazine I’ve bought. I love it, such a great way to live.

In one of those photos Auguste looks as if he’s been sampling yet another apple product – cider! Have you ever tried making any? You really do have a major glut on your hands, and I’m told it’s not hard.

Auguste looks like such a useful person to have around especially when you’ve all those extra apples .
With the last few apples we’ve got left they’re in boxes like yours under cover but outdoors.
I’m with you on the exchanging – the giving of something you’ve grown to a friend is great when they’re not expecting it.

Auguste seems a cheerful sort. If he never gets competent with peeling, well, that’s alright. I’m all in favor of trading. We do quite a bit of it in the community garden and it works out nicely. Unfortunately most of my friends and neighbors don’t can/bottle food, so I can’t trade pickled tomatoes for green beans or apples…